This afternoon the first set of semi final rehearsals finished with the last four countries giving us all they have. Included in this group are a fan favourite, the bookies favourite, a country appearing for the first time (maybe) and a country hoping to get back into the finals again.

Let’s check into whether it was worth sticking it all out until the end.

Norway: KEiiNO – Spirit In The Sky

For the first rehearsal we only heard sound, and they sounded just like the recorded version – no one could tell the difference.  When the visuals appeared all three members of the group were dressed in black. Fred wears a black version of the Sami costume. On the dark stage, however, the green and blue light, which creates the atmosphere of the Northern Lights shines bright. The LED background is flying over a slightly abstract landscape, which enhances the Nordic theme. In Fred’s joiking solo, the color turns yellow and orange, just like when the sun rises. This solo, however, was not as strong in the second attempt as the first. It will be necessary to focus on this in further rehearsals. Camera shots often jump between performers, making the entire presentation even more dynamic.

The Netherlands: Duncan Laurence – Arcade

There won’t be much to write here because The Netherlands have come with even more simplicity than Austria and Lithuania. Duncan sits at the piano and sings the song. A country that has remembered it is a song contest, not a visuals contest. The song and the lyrics are incredible. The stage is all blue. The only effects are one simple light and white clouds with a blue background. Perfection.

North Macedonia: Tamara – Proud

Huh Tamara has one upped Russia and she too is using the holograms, so there are lots of her on stage. She is dressed in green which is not the best colour on stage, but typical North Macedonia, they always find a way to just miss the mark.

Where they do succeed is Tamara has a fantastic voice and she has a really powerful backing choir hiding somewhere in the background.. Some black and white photos of powerful women are shown on the background wall. A very moving performance, it received a great reaction in the press centre.

Azerbaijan: Chingiz – The Truth

Chingiz is all in black and has two robots, ten times the size of San Marino’s from last year, pointing a laser heart towards him. Surprisingly for one of the more up beat songs in the contest, the music doesn’t pound so much. The performance is very futuristic with a large image of a woman in blue projected above him. When she isn’t there a bright yellow heart takes her place.

So the performance is just doing its own thing, but as this is Azerbaijan surely there has to be some trickery somewhere. Sure enough at the bridge, Chingiz looks as if has been shot up into the air before landing safely back on the ground.